


Gravitating Towards You

by didyousaygay



Series: My Personal Solar System [2]
Category: SB19 (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24558169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/didyousaygay/pseuds/didyousaygay
Summary: For some, love develops like a whirlwind. It catches you off guard until you're unable to let go.For Stell and Sejun, it's like baby steps. Slow. Careful. Fragile.
Relationships: Stellvester Ajero/John Paulo Nase
Series: My Personal Solar System [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774648
Kudos: 33





	Gravitating Towards You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel. Enjoy!

_There is no such thing as an Us.. Yet._

The struggles of Josh 'i-would-like-to-mind-my-own-business-thank-you' Cullen Santos

"Josh, makinig ka sa'kin. Paghihiwalayin natin si Sejun at Stell."

Josh is not the type to be easily surprised with anything that life presents him, he learned that basic survival tactic to keep up with life's unexpected curve balls. Things could be falling apart around him but he can proudly say that he can stay level headed and reasonable amidst the chaos. He looks at Justin as if the youngest just mentioned something totally mundane. 

"Narinig mo ba ko Josh? Sa'yo si Stell, akin si Sejun." Justin grabs him by the shoulders with a determined expression. He might need a little bit more context on that but he maintains his poker face. If there's one thing that he learned from the ShowBT culture, pranks are unlimited and it doesn't take a day off.

"Huy Josh, ano ka ba, seryoso ko noh."

Okay, so he's not dense and obviously not blind. He finally looks at Justin with a minimal hint of interest.

He has known Stell the longest but even Josh knows that there's a certain level of skin ship and dependence that Stell and Sejun share that only the two of them can understand.

The entire staff knows that there's a long brewing, unspoken, tension filled 'thing' between the two that has been going on for God knows how long and everyone came up with a silent pact that no one should talk about the relationship that has no name. After years of being unwilling witnesses to lingering touches, shameless ogling and oftentimes unintentional? _(_ _with a question mark, Yes)_ flirting, Stelljun became a household name. By staff and fans alike. 

"Malaki na sila Jah. Pabayaan mo sila." He understands Justin's concern for his friends but he believes that if Stell and Sejun are comfortable with their own brand of intimacy, there's no reason for others to interfere. "Baka magkaproblema lang pag nakialam tayo." He answers with finality.

"Libre kita ng lunch and dinner for the next two months, tulungan mo lang ako dito, please." 

He raises an eyebrow and throws an offended look at Justin. "Hoy hoy hoy, anong akala mo sa'kin madaling utuin?" He doesn't like to be bribed with favors and such but he has to admit that their first three songs post debut, though it received positive feed backs, it doesn't mean they're already rolling in cash. He regretfully and shamefully calculates the money he can save up from all those free meals. "Ayoko pa rin." _Prinsipyo wins._ Josh waves a dismissing hand. "Let them be, Jah."

"Remember last week naiwan kaming tatlo dito sa condo, umalis kayo ni Ken? Nagkaproblema yung wifi, wala akong ibang magawa kundi ang i-observe sila. Nakaka-frustrate. Alam mo ba yung feeling na yun?"

He's still not convinced. Stell and Sejun has always been touchy with each other, their lack for boundaries has been happening for years now, why is Justin so obsessed this time? "Eh sino ba nagsabi sa'yong panoorin mo sila? Hindi ka tuloy mapakali ngayon pati ako idadamay mo."

"Fine, kung ayaw mo, ba'la ka last offer na 'to." 

"Matulog ka na, NO pa rin ang answer ko."

_Seeing doesn't actually equates to believing, you have to immerse yourself to feel it._

It was either divine intervention or a simple case of bad luck, Josh was diagnosed with gastroenteritis, the doctor said he can go home as long as he continue to take his medications and keep himself hydrated.

Tatang Robin insisted that he needs to stay in the condo so at least a staff can check on him every now and then. They finally get a one week break from the nonstop shoots and rehearsals and this is not the type of rest and relaxation that he imagined but he'll take what he can get, may bonus pang Stelljun on the side. They agreed to stay with him until he recovers. 

Justin is already packed to go home for the week long rest. "Ano Josh, last call na talaga 'to sa offer ko." 

He gives Justin an eyeroll. "Ewan ko sayo. Hoy Ken, behave ka dun kina Jah, baka mamaya puro computer na lang gawin mo." 

"Naku may sakit talaga si Josh noh, nagbibilin na, parang tatay." Ken laughs and pats his back. "Pagaling ka Josh."

"Bye Josh." He can see Justin's devious smile but he's too out of it to bother. He closes his eyes, hearing the door close with a soft click.

"Wag ka nga, Sejun, dito ko sa stove, dun ka sa kape."

"Sungit mo naman Stellvester, wala namang natapon eh, bat mo ko pinapaalis?"

"Ang likot likot mo kasi eh!"

The voices and divine aroma of bacon, pancakes and coffee woke him up. Breakfast? How long was he out? His clock shows 9 am. He managed to sleep for 12 hours but now that the smell of a home cooked meal is just a few steps away from him, he forcefully drags his feet to the kitchen. He feels lightheaded so he tries to walk as slowly and as careful as possible, he can't suffer a concussion now. That would totally ruin their plans for the next event.

The condo lay out is simple, the room that he's sharing with Justin is adjacent to the kitchen. Stell and Sejun's room is across the living room while Ken's small room is at the far end of the unit.

He opens the door to see Stell and Sejun in their tiny kitchen preparing breakfast. Their backs facing him, bickering tirelessly, oblivious of his sickly presence.

"Pwede na kaya sa pancakes si Josh? O ipagluto na lang natin sya ng sopas?" Sejun is taking coffee mugs and glasses from the overhead cupboard.

"Wow naman Mr. John Paulo, lakas ng loob makapagsabing ipagluluto ng sopas, marunong ka ba?" 

Sejun laughs and drapes his arm across Stell. "Naku po, sorry naman master chef Ajero, turuan nyo naman akong magluto ng sopas."

"Yan, matuto kang makiusap."

They just stood there for a few seconds, squeezed together, staring at each other's eyes with a smile. Josh has seen this countless times. But every time he does, nothing screams out clearly but the 'i am third wheeling again' vibes.

"Wait lang Stell, may harina ka sa mukha." Sejun wipes the flour from Stell's cheek, he didn't have to move his face that close just to wipe it but hey, whatever rocks their boat di ba. "Meron ka din sa pilikmata."

They are too engrossed in their own world. Ano 'to, korean drama?!

Sejun breaks the silence but still looking at Stell's face "Apakapogi talaga ni Stell oh, kahit may harina, pogi pa rin!"

Stell ever the competitive one brings their faces closer, "Di mo ko mauuto, ikaw maghuhugas ng lahat ng 'to pagkatapos natin kumain."

Cue for Josh to make his presence known, actually he doesn't even have to, it's a communal area but he felt like an intruder, as if he witnessed something private between the two. Or masyado lang siguro syang sensitive ngayon kasi may sakit sya "Ang ingay nyo nagising tuloy ako. Penge naman nyan." He sits on the dining area facing the two. Sejun's hand is now on Stell's waist.

"Uy Josh, okay ka na ba? Try mo kung pwede ka kumain ng pancake, pag di pwede ipagluluto ka ng sopas ni Stell." Wala bang balak si Sejun bitawan si Stell? Pano sya magluluto ng sopas?

Stell plates one piece of pancake and places it in front of Josh. Sejun gives him a glass of milk. Galing parang parents talaga. He suddenly feels warm and fuzzy having these two around.

and yeah, after breakfast, Sejun washed the dishes.

The problem with getting sick is that, it's out of one's control. There's no shortcut to recovery. He's getting better each day, big thanks to his doting parents but that also means he's subjected daily to incessant lovey dovey tropes and by Day 4, he already has a list of things that will make every shipper proud:

  
1\. They like to cuddle. In the living room couch. In the living room floor. When they both cry over romcoms. Actually, whenever they have the chance to.   
2\. They like to compliment each other. Excessively.  
3\. Stell never goes to the gym without Sejun.  
4\. They talk with their eyes. More than what is considered legal and advisable.

By Day 6, Josh has totally recovered from his stomach upset but overdosed with singleness angst. He is sitting on the living room couch when Sejun came back from the gym without Stell, went straight to the kitchen and makes a cup of coffee.

"Yung meds mo nainom mo na Josh?" 

"Nainom na po."

"Okay." Sejun sits beside Josh without saying anything.

"Nasan si Stell?"

"Sa baba."

"Okay..."

Dead air. 

Josh almost jumped out of his seat when the doorbell rang.

"Si Stell na siguro yan, pabukas naman oh."

Puzzled but he follows without asking, when he opens the door, Stell is obviously in a sour mood. "Okay ka na Josh?" The amusing part is that they are definitely upset over something but the parent vibes is still there. 

"Okay ka lang dre?" 

Stell squeezes Josh's shoulder and offers a faint smile. Stell drops his gym bag and walks straight to the living room but he doesn't sit down. He's standing a few feet away while observing Sejun's reactions with a sullen look. 

Stell doesn't shy away from a confrontation, their group managed to resolve misunderstandings by diving head on and discussing matters as adults but this time he patiently gauges Sejun's mood. Like a hunter carefully observing a predator that will tear him apart in a heartbeat.

Sejun is clearly ignoring Stell with the way he is furiously typing in his phone.

When Stell realizes that Sejun won't talk to him, he walks to the bathroom without a word.

Josh is in the middle of a cold war.

Still deciding what to do, he just sits in silence with Sejun. 

When Stell comes out from the shower, he calls out to Josh "Josh, punta ko ng supermarket, wala na tayong stocks, may papabili ka? May gamot ka pa ba?"

"Wala dre, bakit hindi mo na lang hintayin bumalik sina Kuya Yuri para may sasakyan?" 

"Hindi na, konti lang naman bibilhin ko."

Sejun finally speaks with a heavy tone. "Hayaan mo sya Josh, baka sabay silang mag go-grocery nung bagong kakilala nya."

"Siya yung lumapit Paulo, hindi ko naman binigay yung number ko sa kanya."

_Huh?!? Kelan pa naging Paulo si Sejun?! Gaano nang katagal na Paulo si Sejun?!_

"May chance ka pang ibigay yung number mo pag nagkita kayo mamaya." The Pinunong Sejun character is evidently the one who's talking now. _Paulo has left the room._

"Mamaya na lang tayo mag-usap pag hindi na mainit yang ulo mo." Stell combs his hair back in frustration and walks out, he slams the door and leaves.

"Josh, dun muna ko sa kwarto nyo ni Jah ha." Sejun didn't even wait for Josh to answer, he storms out of the living room, leaving Josh with PTSD.

Josh hates it but maybe Justin was right, maybe these idiots just need a little push in the right direction. He grits his teeth with exasperation as he dials Justin's number.

_A partnership is not validated with words, but with mutual feelings._

The gym incident, the gym acquaintance 'who has no name and must not be named' followed by the painfully awkward evening after the stelljun war was locked away in the SB19 vault of never to be mentioned things ever again.

After two days, the idiot couple is back with their vanilla relationship as if nothing happened and Josh just wants to throw them off a cliff.

They have a video shoot for their vlog and this time, it's another competitive game where they need to divide into two groups. The 'kampihan' ended up with a favorable result:

Sejun, Ken and Justin - TeamSB

vs

Josh and Stell - Team19.

SB19 Official YouTube Account

uploaded Mar 21 20XX

The game was simple and straightforward - a guessing game. Each group will be given a list of movie titles, local and foreign. One person needs to silently re-enact a famous scene from the movie or describe the movie title through actions, the other person needs to guess it through the hints given, if timer runs out, the 'Actor' needs to apply lipstick and kiss the member who failed to guess the title. The kiss needs to last for 3 seconds to make sure the lipstick leaves a prominent mark. The group with the least lipstick smudge in the face wins. 

Sejun: Get in the zone!

SB19: break!

Sejun: Hi we are

SB19: SB19!

Sejun: and today for Show Break season X, we will be playing..

Stell and Josh: What's that Movie!! 

Justin: Watched that Movie!!

Ken: *smiling at the camera*

Justin: So nakita nyo na po sa intro kung sino ang magkakagrupo, magdedecide kami ngayon kung sino mauuna gamit aaaang bato bato pik!

Stell and Sejun moves forward and starts the rock paper scissor game and Sejun, as everyone already guessed, looses.

Justin: (laughing) so kami po yung mauuna

Sejun: bat ganon?! (still looking at his hand formed into a scissor, Stell laughing behind him)

Justin: si Sejun po yung unang huhula kasi pinatalo nya yung bato bato pik (glances at Josh and Ken)

Sejun: ganon ba yun?!

Ken: game na Sejun!

Sejun: sino magpapahula

Justin: ako muna, syempre sina Stell po may extra turn kasi dalawa lang sila ni Josh.

Justin picks Titanic from the list. Easy. But surprisingly, doesn't act _or forgot to act?_ the famous Titanic pose. Timer runs out and Sejun complains on how easy it was but Justin made it complicated.

Josh: looks at the staff behind cam, nagrereklamo oh!

Sejun: eto na nga uupo na oh

Justin applies a thick layer of red lipstick. Josh's hand on Sejun's shoulders to keep the latter from running away. Sejun closes his eyes. Ken is behind Josh screaming incoherently trying to cover his eyes from the penalty. Stell is standing behind Justin with a faint smile.

Justin: game na Sejun (his lips extremely red and smudged, goes straight to the corner of Sejun's lips)

Ken screams. Josh counts 3,2,1! More screaming occurs. Stell hasn't moved, he is looking at Sejun with an unreadable expression, his smile gone.

When Sejun opens his eyes, his gaze sweeps the room, obviously looking for something or someone, when his eyes meet Stell's, he smiles.

Stell looks away and grabs Josh who is still partly screaming and laughing. "Tayo na Josh, galingan mo ha."

Josh will play the 'Actor' so Stell needs to guess, next movie is Star Wars.

Team19 starts but timer eventually runs out leaving an extremely frustrated Stell who failed to guess the title.

Stell: sana nag act ka na lang ng twinkle twinkle little star tska nagla-light saber!

Josh: bakit kasalanan ko ba kung hindi mo naintindihan nung tinuturo ko yung langit?

Stell: ang dami kayang pwedeng makita sa langit!

Ken: upo na Stell!! (dying from laughter)

Stell sits on the chair with a frown. 

Justin gives the lipstick to Josh. Josh's face looking like he's ready to bail but Justin applies the lipstick on Josh and pushes him towards Stell.

Justin: both teams zero pa rin po ha

Sejun stands behind Josh who is ready to kiss Stell, while Justin hugs Sejun affectionately. When Josh leans forward for the kiss, Stell doesn't close his eyes but looks at Sejun with a sharp gaze. Josh kisses Stell on the same place where Justin kissed Sejun - corner of the lips. Ken screams again. Justin counts 3,2,1!

When the kiss was done, Sejun can be seen looking at the camera with an annoyed expression.

Team SB's turn again, Sejun will act, Ken needs to guess.

Stell shouts "Galingan mo Ken!" with Josh teasing him "Bat ka nagchi-cheer, Team SB ka ba?"

On which Stell replies with "Supportive ako eh."

Justin: (looks at Stell) "Supportive husband."

Sejun looses another round, he needs to kiss Ken "Kaninong idea 'tong game na'to, ang gagaling nyo ha!" He applies lipstick and unceremoniously goes for Ken's forehead. Ken runs out of frame screaming after the kiss. 

Stell is not looking at the group anymore but straight in the camera with a tight lipped smile. 

The game goes on for a few more rounds. Until the allotted time was up.

Lipstick mark final count

Team SB:

Sejun - 4

Ken - 2

Justin - 1

Team19:

Stell- 2

Josh - 1

It's a win for Team19.

Game officially ends, Stell speaks "Haaay salamat natapos din!"

Time for the closing spiel, the boys are standing side by side as follows: Ken, Josh, Stell, Sejun, Justin.

Staff: so syempre yung natalong team may punishment

Sejun: ha?! hindi pa ba punishment yun? ang kati na ng mukha ko!

Justin: (looks at Sejun) meron kasi malapit sa mata mo (leans in closer and wipes the lipstick smudge at the corner of Sejun's eye)

Stell is looking at them with a discernible annoyed expression. "Okay na yun, wag na tayo magpunishment." His arm loops around Sejun's waist, pulling him away from Justin. Sejun looks at Stell with a smile but Stell is now looking at the camera with a serious face, his arm still wrapped around Sejun.

Sejun: sana po nag enjoy kayo sa episode na to (touches Stell's back while leaning closer to him. Stell, still not smiling)

Josh: mag suggest lang po kayo ng mga games na gusto nyong i-try namin, kita kita po ulit tayo sa susunod na episode

Sejun: this has been

SB19: SB19!

The outro music plays but the boys are still on screen, Stell lets go of Sejun's waist and back hugs him instead. Justin looks at them with a cheeky smile, Stell glaring daggers at their youngest member.

Video ends.

A Very Uneventful Evening

"Steeeellll!" 

"Ano yun John Paulo?" 

"Stell.."

"Ano?"

"Stell."

"Kung wala kang sasabihin, matulog na tayo. Ang aga pa natin bukas."

"Tabi tayo.."

Stell sighs.

Sejun can hear him from the top bunk but sadly, he can't see Stell's expression. He rolls over the edge of his bed and throws a pillow at the bottom bunk, he hears the soft thump as it hits something.

"Aray! Sejun ah."

"Hmpp, di naman malakas, ang sungit..."

No reply. 

"Stell.."

Silence.

"Tey..."

"Lika na dito, tulog na tayo."

"Yehey!"

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading
> 
> so I started this fandom with a one shot, then I fell face first on an avalanche, now i'm in a black hole
> 
> did some changes on the first installment so it can adapt to the continuity


End file.
